Remote New Pupils Induction
The Trinity term is normally an incredibly exciting time for many pupils, but particularly those who are looking forward to joining a new school or moving on to the next stage in their RGS journey. Here at RGS we know how important it is to ensure that all transitions to our Senior School are as enjoyable and exciting an experience as they can be, and we have worked tirelessly to ensure that it is just that for those pupils joining our Senior School.
Normally at this time of year, we would be busy visiting local schools and the other schools in our RGS family to begin to get to know the pupils joining us in Year Seven. We would ensure that all of the new pupils in all age groups had the opportunity to spend a day with us when they could begin to familiarise themselves with our daily routine, meet their Tutor and fellow Tutees, enjoy one of our delicious school lunches and generally soak up the amazing atmosphere and general ‘buzz’ that is the end of the Trinity term at RGS Senior School.
As with everything else at the moment, we have had to ‘think again’ and adapt our New Pupil Induction programme. Although we realise that it is not the same, our new pupils coming into Year Seven have so far really enjoyed their virtual assemblies and are now looking forward to a virtual Tutorial session where they will get to meet their fellow Tutees, Tutor, their Head of Year, Mr Davis, Head of Lower School, Miss Freeman, our Director of Innovation, Mr Jones, who will talk to them about our Digital Learning Programme, and our Head of Pastoral Care, Dr Andrew. They will get to see their Form room, find out more about our daily routine and where to go and who to speak to if they have a query.
These sessions include a film that we have made which includes a special welcome from the Headmaster and a virtual tour of our beautiful school. In other Year Groups, there are similar sessions being organised and those joining us into the Lower Sixth have even started their academic studies by joining our current Year Eleven pupils on a specially designed Sixth Form ‘Bridging’ course. In addition, Mr Jones and his team are ensuring that all pupils begin to familiarise themselves with the apps we use in our digital learning and that their iPads are ready to go for September, and Mrs Clarke, our Director of Learning Development, has also adapted the targeted support we provide for individual pupils, too. Finally, all pupils will get a copy of our Summer Learning Programme, which details academic and more general challenges to ensure that everyone feels ready to get us back to normal as we can provide for in September.
We know that many pupils will have really missed their rites of passage at their current school, that some are concerned about catching up on work missed during ‘lockdown’ and all will feel a mixture of nervousness and excitement as they get ready for a new chapter, but we hope everyone is really looking forward to better times and joining RGS; we really cannot wait to see all of the pupils back in our lovely school.
So, we hope that all the pupils enjoy this most unusual of Transition programmes and that everyone enjoys the summer, while very much looking forward to joining our family!